As companies scour the United States searching for their next facility’s ideal site, dozens of variables are used to rank and eliminate prospective communities. Those making it to the short list are locations that can maximize return on investment (ROI) while minimizing risk. Certain variables, such as workforce, transportation access, and business costs are ubiquitous… Continue Reading »

We’re going to let the data do the driving in 2020. You can call that our New Year’s resolution but it’s really the new strategic focus the South Carolina I-77 Alliance is adopting to identify and market to prospective new industries that could benefit from the advantages our five-county corridor offers. While still relying on… Continue Reading »

What a difference a decade can make. When the Great Recession hit, Lancaster County was already reeling from the loss of Springs Industries and its thousands of textile jobs that had sustained generations of local families. Unemployment skyrocketed and income levels dropped to among the lowest in the state. “We had become a poster child… Continue Reading »

As the century turned, the northern end of South Carolina’s I-77 corridor was still seeing the shakeout of the end of textile’s domination of the regional economy. Twenty years later, as a new decade dawns, that transformation is complete, and while advanced textile manufacturers still have a presence here, the local manufacturing base has become… Continue Reading »

A ready workforce, attractive lifestyle and, last but not least, more than 2,500 acres of new possibilities await industrial prospects at the southern end of the Palmetto State’s I-77 corridor as a new decade dawns. Those two counties — Richland and Fairfield — are now home to about 435,000 people and include the vibrant state… Continue Reading »

Knowledge is power, and in the realm of economic development and industrial recruitment, the more detailed and targeted that knowledge, the more powerful it is. That’s why the South Carolina I-77 Alliance is excited to now offer the ability to analyze workforce, demographic, and socio-economic data in unprecedented detail directly through our website and those… Continue Reading »

South Carolina’s technical colleges provide a resounding “yes” to the question that all industrial prospects ask: Can I count on an available, trained workforce? Two of those 16 institutions anchor the I-77 Corridor: Columbia-based Midlands Technical College and York Technical College in Rock Hill. Both schools have a long history of serving students who come… Continue Reading »

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Boise Cascade Company (NYSE: BCC), one of the largest producers of engineered wood products and plywood in North America and a leading U.S. wholesale distributor of building products, is expanding its existing operations in Chester County. The company is investing an additional $17.5 million in the facility in a series of upgrade… Continue Reading »

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Eastover Solar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Community Energy, an experienced utility-scale solar project developer, today announced plans to construct a new solar farm in Richland County. The company is investing $80 million in the project. Designed to generate the equivalent electricity required to power approximately 18,000 homes, this new 73-megawatt solar project will… Continue Reading »

As unemployment rates fall to the lowest levels in half a century, finding people to fill jobs is a growing challenge for employers. To meet that challenge, first you need people. That’s why job creators from industries in every sector can do well to consider the five counties that comprise the Interstate 77 corridor between… Continue Reading »